Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 20 April 2016
484. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the extent to which his Department continues to be made aware of new applicants applying for local authority housing arising from repossessions or notice to quit from landlords; the extent to which this is being monitored by the various local authorities with a view to taking steps to address the issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7754/16]
View answerThe assessment of applications for social housing support is the responsibility of the relevant local authority in accordance with the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 and associated regulations. The prescribed application form for such support requires applicants to provide certain information on their current and previous accommodation, including whether they received a notice to quit or an eviction notice in respect of their current accommodation and the reasons for leaving previous accommodation. My Department does not collate day-to-day information on the number of applications made to each local authority nor the specific contents thereof.
Statutory Summaries of Social Housing Assessments are carried out at regular intervals and they provide information on the number of households on local authority housing waiting lists. Only those households which have been assessed as being eligible and in need of such support following the carrying out of the prescribed application process by the relevant housing authority are placed on the list.
The most recent summary, carried out as at 7 May 2013, provided details on the number of households categorised as having a housing need due to an unsustainable mortgage; details of the 2013 Housing Needs Assessment are available on my Department’s website at the following link:
http://www.housing.ie/News/Current-News/18-12-13-Summary-of-Social-Housing-Assessments-201.pdf .
Further summaries of social housing assessments will be carried out on an annual basis from this year and will provide up-to-date and comprehensive data on the numbers of households qualified for social housing support on an ongoing basis, including the level of households which have a housing need arising from unsustainable mortgages.
